Power Within
by LockDown
Summary: Sequel to Demon Within. War brews between Heaven and Hell. Ashitaka discovers something about the Power Within him making him the most powerful in the universe and stands at the crossroads of good and evil. Crossover with Oh! My Goddess. Complete! Edited.


Demon Within Part 2: Power Within

Disclaimer for the whole thing: I don't own anything here except the idea behind the fic.

Author's note: You should read my other work the Demon Within first or else you may get confused with the plot. This is a Princess Mononoke and Oh! My Goddess crossover so please be patient as I am working with a lot of characters and couples. For the sake of simplicity and acceleration the couples have gone through the rough stuff but have not made the final step (marriage and/or sex). Saying they love each other etc. and I only really know the Princess Mononoke characters. I have only seen the OVA series of Oh! My Goddess but I saw it in Japanese with Thai subtitles (alas life in a Cambodia where cable is pirated and for that matter so is everything else.) so I am mostly relying on what I have read about the characters so forgive me if they are a little weak.

There may be some lemons later on but you will receive warnings in advance and they will be in their own chapters so that you, the readers, can skip them if they offend you. My apologies if they do. 

Next on the agenda is the comedy relief. It will come in the form of fuzzy caterpillars. Yes you have read right and no I have not lost my mind. They are my kid sister's demand and any of you older siblings should know how demanding younger siblings can be. And she is my editor so what the heck. What's wrong with fuzzy caterpillars with a sense of humor? They are really my sister's idea so I have to think up what the heck they will do. If I don't get them in the Power Within part of the series then they will appear in the much more laid back Peace Within series.

 Any way I close up now with one simple request, please review. Unlike some authors I won't demand a given number to add new chapters, I'll just add them as they come, normally in chapter pairs. However the reviews are very much appreciated. Thank you for reading this.

Chapter 1: Come to pass

San looked up from an old book she was reading. 5:00 the clock read. 'I should get ready.' San looked back at the book and smiled at the good memories it brought back. Memories that were over 600 years old. The book she held was that old and San herself was over 600 years old. 617 in fact and San didn't look over 17. 

San had never aged, something that she could not explain. She had matured physically but her appearance never changed save for a slightly larger bust. A sort of bittersweet blessing or curse depending on how San thought about it, something she did a lot. A blessing in immortality, a curse in out living all the people around her. Neither of these was what bothered San. Out living people was fine by her, as she never had had many human friends. Living with humans for hundreds of years hadn't changed San's view about them though she had learned to tolerate them. What bothered her was the fact that she was alone. She still loved Ashitaka and had waited for 600 years for him to return to her but he hadn't. San continued to wait for in the depths of her soul San could almost feel Ashitaka's presence though she knew he wasn't really there.

When Ashitaka disappeared San watched over Iron town for a time. But once the forest was cut down by a new younger generation that didn't know of the war fought by their parents against the forest. With the forest gone San no longer had any thing to anchor her to the place. So San had wandered all over Japan earning her living as a professor of ancient history, history that she had lived through and knew about firsthand. San specialized in the Emishi, a people long dead. Ashitaka had taught her a great deal and his sister, the Princess Kaya who was the last of their people, taught her even more.

Currently San was teaching at Tokyo University and had been doing so for two years now. Normally San never settled down in one place for more then a year but now that she had some friends and that she had a life set up she was happy to stay in Tokyo. Best of all her friends were immortal like she was so San didn't have to worry about out living the goddesses though they would all out live their mortal friends Keiichi and Sentaro. 

San knew that the three sisters were goddesses. Urd had been the one to spill the beans one night when she was very, very drunk. Urd was thoroughly embarrassed by Skuld who force her older her sister to cut down on drinking to the point that alcohol was something almost nonexistent in Urd's life. This made her quite unpleasant to be around for a time but everyone agreed it had been a good thing to happen, Urd not drinking, not telling San they were all goddesses. However San absorbed the new quite well. After all she was from a time when gods and demons roamed the land and San herself was seen as a goddess of sorts when she was the Princess Mononoke. San told them all about her life story though she left Ashitaka out of it. While Urd was half goddess and half demon Ashitaka was a full-fledged demon and no one liked demons very much save Urd.

'What to wear?' San thought as she stared into her wardrobe. 'No time to be picky, um… this will do.' San picked out a blue dress and changed into. San sat down at her small makeup table but decided against putting on makeup. She still had her tattoos, fangs on each cheek, and had never been too fond of makeup. Her tattoos limited what makeup she could apply effectively on herself. 

Chapter 2: Travel Time

The portal didn't simply transport the two demons to another time or place. Rather it kept them in a netherworld, outside time where they battled for 600 years. In that time each developed new powers and expanded on old ones each trying to get the better of the other. 

There were times when the two demons didn't fight. In these brief peaceful periods Ashitaka would notice things about himself and his powers. He wasn't a demon nor had he ever been one. The netherworld had done something to him. It had cured him somehow. Ashitaka no longer was demonic. Instead he was something different, something less evil but more powerful than any of the old gods and demons. The demonic powers had done this to him. Done what, Ashitaka didn't know. 

Over time Ashitaka came to understand his powers and what they had done to him. They were different, mutated by the netherworld and his will. They had changed him from a human with demonic powers into a being with new powers that were no longer evil but just full of raw power the world indeed universe had never seen before.

The netherworld did many other things to him as well. Being outside time he never seem to age. Ashitaka also noticed that he could mold the ether around him into shapes. So had his nemesis. Often their battles grew to include armies of ether warriors all of whom would parish for the two had developed powers that would devastate large areas of the nether wasteland.

No matter how strong the nether world made one of the warring lords the other was always able to match him. They seemed doomed to fight for eternity to a standstill. But the gods must have had something else planned for the portal finally reopened and flung the demon and Ashitaka into a starry night sky before they landed on a certain temple's grounds.

Chapter 3: Dinner Party Ruined

Belldandy had insisted on throwing the party for several reasons. One reason was San had recently written a book about Ashitaka's and her adventures and it had made the best sellers list. Second was Keiichi had gotten a promotion at his job. He was now a manager at the motorcycle shop he was working at.

Belldandy had moved the venue outside as there were more people then the kitchen could hold and the summer nights were warm and pleasant. Keiichi was there naturally with this being his house and Bell being the hostess greeted San at the door. Skuld was busy at the moment in her room doing something and Urd was lingering around the cooler just waiting to start drinking. 

San had noticed that Urd was more depressed then normal. In fact Urd was depressed most of the time when she was around her sisters. San personally thought it was because her sisters had found love and she hadn't. Bell had Kei and Skuld had Sentaro who was supposed to show up tonight. Perhaps that was why Skuld was spending so much time in her room. 

And San turned out to be right. Sentaro arrived and Skuld appeared out of her room in a nice dinner dress. Neither of her sisters had dressed up but Skuld felt had to do something special. After all she hadn't seen Sentaro since spring break because he was so busy with classes. The adults left Sentaro and Skuld alone and ventured out to the yard. Kei, Bell and San talked about various things while Urd kept pacing and occasionally looked up into the night sky then around the yard as if something wasn't right.

"Urd what's wrong?" Bell asked finally consumed by her sister's curious behavior.

"Do you feel that?" Urd asked still looking around.

"What?"

"That presence. Now there are more of them. They feel strange."

"Yes I feel them. They're demonic. You should know that."

"That's the thing they're not demonic. Two are sort of demonic but a very old demonic feel comes with them. And the last one I can't place."

"Well let's not worry about it now. Urd go call Skuld and Sentaro and we'll have dinner."

Dinner was pleasant. The boys talked about up coming races they were entered in and the girls talked about other things like shopping though their attention returned to the strange demonic presences the goddesses were feeling. Mara could feel them as well and San felt a little left out but there was nothing she could do about it. San may have been the Mononoke but only in name. 

The boys continued to talk about racing. They knew they could do nothing and had decided not to worry about it until it came to them if it did at all.

Unfortunately for them it did come to them. A portal opened right next to them and threw a man and a rather large ape out onto the ground. Both jumped to their feet and seemed oblivious to their new surroundings only concentrating on the other.

(_Here I will be switching points of view from Ashitaka's to San/everyone's. Sorry if you get confused._)

Ashitaka and the Ape demon fought completely ignoring the people having the dinner party they just interrupted. Status quo continued as neither could gain the upper hand. However slowly Ashitaka was being pushed backwards as he and the Ape grappled and tried to throw the other off balance.

Everyone at the table was spellbound. A man and giant ape had appeared before them and they were fighting right in front of them. Most astonishing of all was the fact the man could stand up to the ape. How could an average man manage to stand toe to toe with a 6 foot 400 pound ape? But stand the man did though he was slowly being pushed back towards the seated diners.

Slowly losing ground Ashitaka thought fast. He knew he had to do something before he was pushed off a ledge or something. 600 years in the vast netherworld had not taken away Ashitaka's sense of reality. This could prove to his advantage for Ashitaka had noticed in the last 50 years his opponent was slowly slipping into the insanity that controlled the forces of the netherworld and it's strange laws or lack of. 

The netherworld had been a vast nothingness, which Ashitaka and his demonic foe had formed in their battles. Some areas became barren wastelands, scared by constant fighting and devastated by massive spells and explosions. Some areas were plain vast fields untouched by the fighting. And still others were even vaster oceans, jungles and savannahs all molded by Ashitaka and the Ape demon from the ether. The ether of the netherworld had made this all possible. It had also kept Ashitaka sane for he had made his sections as realistic as possible so he would not lose touch with reality. 

Closer and closer the man came to the table being pushed by the ape. Suddenly the ape took the upper hand by violently throwing its weight to one side then the other throwing his human opponent to the side and against a tree.

Ashitaka saw what the Ape was doing but too late. In a flash he was flying through the air and slammed against a tree. Thoroughly dazed Ashitaka could only lie at the base of the tree. Ashitaka had no fear and was almost beyond care. The ape could pick him up and batter him but Ashitaka would heal himself and continue a fight that was very wary some and had been drawn out for too long. But the ape did not come to beat his brains out. Instead the ape was standing at one end of the table staring at the person at the other end of the table.

The person at the end of the table was San who was staring back the ape too bewildered to do much else. "You!" the ape said in a very, very old form of Japanese. This further confused San and confused the goddesses. Being goddesses they understood all languages but they were curious as to how a big ape could speak in the first place let alone a very old Japanese dialect. Sentaro and Keiichi paused for a moment before continuing to talk though the subject had changed to the fight. They couldn't understand a thing but they figured that once somebody made some sense of this they would tell them.

"You!" the ape said again. "How can you be alive?! You should have died with the other humans when my troops attacked that loathsome town."

"Who are you? What attack? What town?" San asked still very confused.

"So the Princess Mononoke doesn't recognize the one who brought the Wolf Clan to its knees?" the big monkey asked before laughing heartily to himself. While this happened everyone else just looked at San who shook her head and shrugged her shoulders indicating she was clueless like the rest of them. 

Ashitaka slowly rose from the base of the tree he lay under. 'Princess Mononoke? But San must have died long ago. Unless we have arrived only months in the future. But that can't be. I threw that portal into forward motion.' Ashitaka looked around for the first time and saw clearly he was no longer in the forested valley that had held Iron Town. He saw the ape staring at a person on the end of a table. A rather odd table since the chairs seemed to be attached to it but Ashitaka could marvel and look at this strange thing later.

Ashitaka could vaguely hear the on going conversation as he lay still very much in no shape to fight properly. The world seemed a little off balance as if he was drunk so he just lied there and listened. If his opponent didn't want to fight he would also take a breather, which had become few and far between in the last 100 years. It seemed his demonic foe wanted to end this little war as much as he did.  

 Rambling mostly about some war fought long ago. Ashitaka didn't really care. He was tired of fighting and wanted to rest, end it all at last and join his people. But the war was not over. The Ape demon still lived and Ashitaka had to kill him to end the war for San. The same San he had fallen in love with but this war had torn them apart. Only for that memory did he fight on. But a man needs more to motivate him and Ashitaka was reaching the end of his energy. 

Then some words caught Ashitaka's ears. "Princess Mononke…" 'San?' He thought. No he mustn't get his hopes up. She had to be dead by now but still he thought he had heard her name mentioned and he thought he had heard her sweet voice. No he must be hallucinating, as he also must be slowly dying since he no longer had agelessness protection from the netherworld.

The talking continued. Something about Iron Town and a forest and no attack and… Ashitaka leapt to his feet. No he had not been dreaming. He had heard San's voice. That was enough for him. With new strength he slowly walked to wards the big Ape who was stupidly talking to San and not paying attention to his foe. The air seemed to go still and then rush around Ashitaka drawing everyone's attention back to him. His eyes changed color to a pale blue and the rushing of wind around him grew stronger ruffling his clothes audibly. A golden light appeared on his right cheek and seemed to burn a fang onto his cheek. Ashitaka took no heed. He felt no pain, he had no fear. He could feel his power surge through him, waiting to be unleashed in a sea of chaos and death.

Too absorbed with this temporary transformation in his physical appearance Ashitaka didn't see the Ape charge him and hit with a blow that would have normally knock him off his feet. Instead his stood there, anger and rage filling him. He would end this tonight. Ashitaka's eyes changed color again, this time to a darker blue. A second fang on his right cheek appeared. His shirt became shredded as the wind around him intensified and Ashitaka knew his powers where changing. This had happened to him before when his powers had mutated suddenly and drastically strengthening him. Ashitaka could feel the power. He was going to end it tonight. End it he did.

Chapter 4: Silence before the Storm

It ended finally. Ashitaka slowly walked towards the demon, each footstep spelling doom. The table had gone very silent, Keiichi and Sentaro couldn't ignore this.

The demon in a panic started hurling energy blasts at Ashitaka, who continued his slow walk up to the demon, each blast striking him full on but Ashitaka didn't even flinch as one passed straight through him.

The sight of a man walking with a hole in him was very nerve racking for the dinner guests even for the goddesses who could feel and understand that this man was not a mere mortal. Skuld fainted and Belldandy had to turn away. The guys turned a dangerous green but still kept watching. They had never seen anything like this before. San however was more stunned at the man then anything else. She knew that Ashitaka had once saved her but was shot in the process. But he had not died and did what this man was doing now, walking on without any sign of pain or fear of death.

Ashitaka finally reached his foe that was petrified to the spot. With an upper cut Ashitaka sent the ape into the air. With a heel kick the ape was against a tree. Once again Ashitaka walked up to the ape and took hold of his head. Then Ashitaka slammed the ape's head against the tree trunk again and again until the head no longer existed, just a bloody body with level shoulders. In a moment the body withered and decayed, leaving no trace it was ever there. Ashitaka sank to his knees exhausted. His body from carrying him and his wounds, which were now closing up and healing, his mind from the long years of constant fighting, his soul from knowing far too much. 

He knew he was the last of his people, and doomed to forever be the last living fossil of the Emishi, a prince without a people, alone. His powers were what weighted his soul the most. They caused rage, anger, hatred most of all. The gods had made him into a tool, no a toy. But Ashitaka had changed his powers in a way of revenge. If he was to suffer, the gods could suffer with him for eternity. 

Chapter 5: Breaking the ICE

The man just stayed where he was, kneeling by the base of the tree, head hung. The act he had committed of bashing the ape's head into a mush caused Bell to follow Skuld and faint, Urd turned a multitude of greens to rival the greens of Sentaro and Keiichi who looked as if a marathon of hurling was soon to begin. 

Even San was disgusted and her stomach had wrenched at the sight. San had killed before, just one of the things that her friends didn't know about her, but she had never killed in such a way nor had she seen blood in over 500 years. 

Despite the act the table members who were conscious all had weary eyes on the stranger. He obviously wielded great power; the boys could see that and the goddesses could sense it. Fear if nothing else kept them from doing anything at all. They just sat there fix on the man. They watched as the gaping hole in him closed and healed, his eyes change to a gentle brown, and the wind stopped circulating around him.

The sky had darkened but no one had paid any heed until the rain came down. Then Keiichi made the first move in quite some time as he carried Bell into the house and Sentaro followed suit with Skuld. San and Urd ran inside but the man stayed where he was, letting the rain fall on him.

The rain came down and Ashitaka just stayed there. He was too absorbed in thoughts. 'Did I hear San's voice. No can't be, she HAS to be dead.' Such were his thoughts as he tried to convince himself he was dreaming, insane, hearing things, hallucinating, something, anything that would tell him that this was not really the reality of things. He had killed his foe, he had no purpose now. He could never join his people and San… well IF and that was a big if, if she lived would she still love him? Very likely not, he had changed, she most likely had changed and moved on, found a new mate, one that could do what he hadn't, make her happy and give her a family. 

No this was not going to be the fate of a man. Ashitaka had found fate was meaningless to him, just as the will of the gods were. He had risen above these things, they would be subject to his will. At these thoughts Ashitaka pondered how he would force the gods to kneel before him. There was nothing left in his life. He had no friends, family, nothing to lose, everything to gain, and a will that could not be broken. This would come to pass, Ashitaka would make sure of it. 'But how?'

San had stayed by the window looking at the man in the rain. All the others had gone to bed to sleep rather uneasily. Everyone in a separate room, save Bell and Keiichi seeing as they were married now. Urd had once commented that she was amazed she wasn't an aunt by now. Those two had been married now for almost two years. As the man made no movement and it grew late San went to bed thinking why the man was still there and if they should have invited him into the house or called the cops or something.

Chapter 6: Oldest Friends (Closest Allies)

Dawn broke gently on the temple. San awoke and found the place bustling with normal activity. No seemed to remember what happened that night. Keiichi was gone already, headed no doubt to work. Sentaro was in Skuld's room talking with her softly about something. Urd was in the kitchen talking with Belldandy. They had not forgotten last night's events.

"But he can't be human Bell, we both saw what he did last night." Urd was saying.

"And he can't be an ordinary god either. No one could have survived a wound like that and then heal themselves. He must be a demon of some sort." Belldandy said as San walked into the kitchen still in her nightclothes, a very large T-shirt with a picture of a wolf on it naturally. San and the goddesses were such good friends they were quite open with each other and Bell and Urd really didn't mind. Keiichi was not going to be home for a while and Sentaro was too preoccupied with Skuld to notice or take much heed. Bell was cooking in a pink bathrobe and Urd was in a blue nightgown.

"He can't be a demon. He doesn't feel like a demon. And I know what a demon feels like Bell." Urd told Bell.

"Then what is he?" Bell asked.

"I don't know. But he is not human, that much I know." Urd said.

"What's for breakfast?" San asked.

"Porridge." Bell told San as she gave a bowl of porridge to San.

"Is he still there?" San asked as she ate.

Urd nodded and San looked out the window where Urd had indicated. The man was sitting at the table they were sitting at the last night. 

He still had no shirt and San could see that he was well built now that it was clear. His head was down and he held a cup in one hand from which he was drinking something hot.

San couldn't take her eyes off the man. There was something about him that reminded her of Ashitaka. What it was she couldn't quite place.

"We got some news last night." Bell started and Urd gave her a questioning look.

"Should we tell her?" Urd asked.

"She'll find out anyway." Bell said.

"What?" San asked her curiosity fully aroused.

 "We got word that things are getting pretty bad up in heaven and things may get worse. There's an army of demons headed for the Gates of Heaven and every god and goddess has been called to go. We can stay but only for three more days, the War for Heaven should start on the fourth day." Bell finished.

"Why is every god and goddess being called?" San asked.

"The demons are marching some 100,000 strong to the Gates. They mean to take Heaven this time." Urd said.

"They've tried before?" San asked.

"Once, when we were kids. The forces holding the Gates nearly fell. And that was only 35,000 demons. This time Heaven may fall, but we can make them pay dearly for it. There's only about 40,000 of us against their horde so if we do drive them back it is very likely most of us will be dead." Urd said in a nature of fact voice.

"Have you told Keiichi, Bell?" San asked and got a sad shake no from Belldandy. "How about Skuld?"

"We thought we should let them be happy until that day." Urd said.

"No you can't do this to Keiichi and Skuld. They'll both be heart broken when you just get up and leave and don't come back. What about Sentaro? What is Skuld supposed say to him?"

Bell could only shake her head as small tears ran down her cheeks. She was no happier about this then anyone else but she knew something no one else knew. Now that she only had a few days with Keiichi she wondered whether to tell him or not, whether it would hurt him more knowing or not knowing.

"Bell? Belldandy Morisato listen to me. My man ran off 600 years ago because of something like this. I never saw him again and to this day I wish I had done more with him, if he had told me he had known this would happen I would have done something about it back then. But that is the past; I had to move on because I can't die from age. What about Keiichi? He will die eventually with or without you at his side. Which do you think he would prefer?" San said somewhat forcefully to get Belldandy's attention.

"But there is nothing I can do." Bell said mournfully.

"Yes there is. First have Keiichi take some days off and then waste yourselves doing whatever activities you married people do." San said.

"Okay now that that is cleared up take a look at our guest." Urd said.

Bell and San looked out the window to find the man staring straight at them. His eyes seemed cold and distant yet full somehow full of pity and some jealousy all at the same time.

Ashitaka was feeling these things. Cold and distant being alone in the world, pity for the goddesses he knew dwelt in the temple and jealousy for what they had, family. He picked up a letter that was on the table. It had fluttered from Heaven the previous night and he merely had the wind change to bring him the letter. (The gods had stopped burning messages on the ground because it was starting to draw some attention.) Ashitaka had found out during the night, just as he had suspected, his powers had increased and changed with him hitting a new threshold in his experience. No longer being in the netherworld also granted him even more powers for the netherworld had somehow suppressed his powers and increased his late foe's abilities.

The letter was addressed to a goddess named Belldandy Morisato, war was declared on Heaven by Hell and the goddesses and gods were called to arms to defend the Gates of Heaven. Ashitaka had smiled at the news. This meant Heaven would already hard pressed to stop the forces of Hell and all he had to do is force them both to kneel to him once they had exhausted themselves against each other. Perfect…

He had his plan but wanted to meet the opposition. "Know thy enemy, know thyself, and victory will be at hand." Ashitaka muttered to himself as rose from the table. With a wave the cup disappeared and as he walked towards the temple clothes manifested themselves around him. By the time he was at the door he was dressed plainly enough. A black shirt, pants and a cape. He knocked.

The knock seemed to be very loud in the completely quiet kitchen. Down the hall Skuld and Sentaro fell silent very quickly. Slowly Sentaro made his way to the door. Bell hadn't moved and he was the only man in the house. He opened the stranger, the man from last night. Sentaro was surprised to see the man fully dressed and compose. He was further shocked when the man said; "Can I speak with the goddesses of the house."

Yet another ability Ashitaka had discovered last night, as an effect of his new powers was that he could learn languages from just small phrases. " Can I speak with the goddesses of the house." Ashitaka said as the young man in front of him.

Chapter 7: (Are your) Long Lost Enemies

"Can I speak with the goddesses of the house?" Those words seemed impossible. No one knew the secret of the house and those who did no would no play such a trick. And yet there was this strange man asking to talk to all the goddesses.

'Why is this young man standing like an idiot?' Ashitaka thought as he looked at the man's rather surprised and black expression. "What?" The man sputtered.

This was enough for Ashitaka even he had a breaking point for his patience and his lack of human contact had made him less tolerable. He walked passed the man and into the house.

Sentaro was further stunned by the unexpected move but then followed the man in an attempt to do something to stall the man so that the goddesses could do something. Skuld had retreated from her room into the kitchen.

Ashitaka walked directly into the kitchen. He had no idea where anything was in the house but he could feel the powers and the presences of the goddesses and found them all at the table.

For a moment now no spoke and Sentaro could be seen over the man's shoulder looking defeated as he shrugged his shoulders. Ashitaka looked around the room at the goddesses. One was a violet robe and had dark skin and white hair. Another wore a pink robe and had long golden hair and blue eyes. A third had a green robe and black hair and brown eyes. But it was the last one that held his attention the most. She wore only a large T-shirt, her hair was only shoulder length, and she had two rather odd looking tattoos on her face. Tattoos that looked like fangs almost. Ashitaka's heart jumped a beat but then slowed. 'The demon was right, the Mononoke lives but has found goddesses for friends. Why must you be my enemy now San?'

Still no one spoke until Ashitaka broke the silence. "Who among you is Belldandy Morisato? I have a message for you to give to the gods."

Bell started to rise but San put her hand on her arm and stopped her as she said fiercely; "Who are you and why are you here?"

'Still as furious as ever San' "Because my dear Mononoke, I have news that the gods should hear. And if one goddess won't deliver it perhaps another will." Those years of fighting had taught Ashitaka to beware of everything so that you could turn it to your advantage. He had noticed that the girl in green had not been looking at him but at the man behind him in eyes that were filled with young love. Ashitaka knew those eyes because it was how San had at one time looked at him. The man behind him was the key to guarantying that the message he had got sent.

San sat at the table stunned. 'He had called me the Mononoke.' No one knew that was her because she had never told anyone, not even the goddesses though they did know her story. 'But who could still be alive to know me. Unless…' "Ashitaka?" San said in almost a whisper.

"Took you long enough, Princess Mononoke." Ashitaka said as he bowed. 'Why must you be my foe now?' "Seems only fit to see a goddess surrounded by other goddesses."

This last phrase cause great confusion among those in the kitchen. Why was the man calling San a goddess when she herself never had claimed to be? And why was he calling her Princess Mononoke?

Ashitaka noticed the confusion and smiled at what he had caused. 'Confusion in the ranks incited so easily.' "San have you not told your fellow goddesses about your past. Or have you chosen to bury it along with me?"

San was speechless at this and very much ashamed for Ashitaka was right. The silence seemed to answer his question and he spoke again; "My message is simple. The Gates of Heaven will open to me and all shall bow to me and me alone. If the gods do not yield I will cease the Gates in four days time. I advise you send this news quickly or the man behind me shall never return. Deliver the message and I leave him unharmed."

San now saw that Ashitaka was planning on having at least Skuld deliver the message. But it made no sense to her. What had happened to the kind, caring Ashitaka she had known? "Ashitaka," she said weakly, "don't do this."

"Too late Mononoke, the gods must pay for my pain. They will kneel before their minion of ancient days. A minion who served long and well and then was given no reward, only punishment. No San, I will do this for they must pay." And with that Ashitaka was gone. He and Sentaro just disappeared…

Chapter 8: Old Knowledge

Silence, ever so noiseless, ever so loud. Silence filled the kitchen and was broken by Skuld's tears over Sentaro. Urd tried to consul her as Bell quietly yet forcefully rounded on San. "What is this all about?" Bell said quite out of her normal sweet and kind character.

"I… I don't know." San said, herself on the edge of tears. A reunion with Ashitaka had been unexpected and it had not gone very well by any standards. Though they near touched bases about them in the short time he had stayed San could see he was different, hateful and vengeful though she tried to understand why he would feel this way and found she couldn't.

"Bell we have to do something." Urd said and indicated they had to do something about Skuld.

"We might as well tell her. And after that you are going to tell us about this man, how you know him, how he knows you, and why he just made life that much harder for us." Bell stated plainly.

The next several hours it took to clear things up brought Bell back to her normal self and they were still deciding what to do now. The gods had to be warned about this new enemy. As much as the girls could figure this would only mean further casualties for the gods. Now that they knew Ashitaka was any army unto himself it would all be over when Ashitaka arrived at the Gates of Heaven. And now Skuld had to deal with her love crisis. Seeing it as the only way to get Sentaro back and warn Heaven Skuld went to Heaven while the rest split up. Bell made the difficult call to tell Kei what had transcended. Urd helped San bring her things from her apartment to the temple. San had decided to help fight at the Gates and would like to have her last days with her friends.

Skuld returned in the evening and found only San and Urd to comfort her. Keiichi and Bell were in their room doing Heaven only knew what. "But I… I delivered the message." Skuld sobbed into her elder sister's chest. "I know Skuld, I know" Urd said as she looked at San for help.

Else where Ashitaka watched from afar. So did Sentaro who struggled against his invisible binds. The girls were in site on the porch and all the boy could do was struggle fruitlessly against his binds. Ashitaka and the boy were invisible to all, the boy gagged, and Ashitaka silent.

"You must really love that young goddess a lot, don't you boy? You haven't stopped struggling all day. Fine." Ashitaka said and then the binds and gag disappeared. Instantly Sentaro tried to get away and get Skuld's attention by crying out but Ashitaka merely laughed at him. "You can try anything you want, they can't hear or see you."

"Why are you doing this?" Sentaro asked as he turned to face Ashitaka. 

"Weren't you listening young one? Or were you too busy staring at your goddess girlfriend or were you trying to make sense of the situation?" Ashitaka said calmly, calmly enough it was almost penetrating and deep cutting.

Sentaro remained silent still staring at the man.

"How old do you think I am, young one?" Ashitaka asked seemingly for no reason.

"Not that old. You can't be older then I and stop calling me 'young one.' I have a name and it's Sentaro."

"And your age young one?" Ashitaka asked.

"I turn 18 in a few days."

Ashitaka laughed. "Ha add a mere 600 years to that and you have my age. So you can see that you are indeed a very young person, Sentaro. Do you know of my past or has San never dug that up."

Sentaro shook his head no. Instantly in front of him were a table and a bottle of something with a pair of glasses.

"Sit and you shall learn it young Sentaro." Ashitaka invited Sentaro as he sat down and poured himself a drink.

And so the first day passed with old buried knowledge changing hands…

Chapter 9: Time in Between

Silence, a sound that Ashitaka had come to love and hate. It meant he was alone to think as Sentaro had fallen a sleep any hours ago. The silence also reminded him of his loneliness and why he was alone only fueling his anger against the gods. 

In the temple San had been having trouble sleeping and was standing on the porch staring blankly at the yard. The same yard Ashitaka had suddenly appeared back into her life for a brief moment to make his demands like the warrior he had become and then disappear with Skuld's sweetheart as a captive. Life could not have been a more twisted and changed so drastically for the goddesses. San was starting to count herself among them now. She had been called a goddess in her youth and now she lived with them. 'Was it possible fate had planned this all out? ' San thought. 'After all look what fate had done to her Ashitaka. Twisted him to no longer be the man she had fallen in love with.' Perhaps fate had something in mind for Ashitaka that San couldn't see. There were only two days before the attack on the Gates of Heaven. Perhaps San was meant to die there. 'But if I die there, I WILL take your life with mine. At least then we can be together.'

"What are we doing today?" Sentaro asked Ashitaka, not too keen on spending the day doing nothing.

"Learning." Ashitaka said and in an instant they were in a library. Ashitaka spent the rest of the day bouncing from library to library reading every book he could in effect absorbing all the knowledge he could. Sentaro was rather amazed that Ashitaka could read modern Japanese in the first place but the rate at which read was almost godlike. 

But then Sentaro would remind himself that Ashitaka was a mortal made immortal basically putting Ashitaka on the same level of the gods. The powers Ashitaka had exhibited only two nights ago were very worthy of being called godly or even beyond godly. Sentaro had seen nothing like and he bet from the goddesses' reactions neither had they.

Basically that is how Sentaro and Ashitaka spent the second day, reading and learning.

For the goddesses it was quite different. Urd was forever trying to comfort Skuld who spent the day crying. Bell and Keiichi spent the day in their room and San brought them their meals. Since everyone was tied up San had a lot of free time to think when she wasn't cooking. Mostly she thought of the old Ashitaka, the one she had fallen in love with, and mostly she wondered what had ever happened to him. 'Something must have made him very angry when he came out of the portal. But what?' 

And so the second day passed with people just passing the time.

Chapter 10: Last Day of Life

Another dawn only brought closer the day all in the temple dreaded. San, Urd and Belldandy were around the kitchen table, all unable to sleep well. Skuld had cried herself to sleep and Keiichi was a man and he did need his rest and from what San and Urd had deducted from Bell's tired yet happy looks he definitely needed some rest.

"Bell you seemed a little distracted. Is something wrong?" Urd asked noticing the rather spaced out looked Bell had mixed in with her afterglow of what had obviously happened all of last night and most of yesterday.

"No, nothing." Bell said as she shook herself back to reality.

"Yes, something." Urd replied. 

"Come on something is eating you and we want to know.

Belldandy looked at Urd then San. "Only if you promise not to tell anyone. Not even Kei-chun."

The brows of San and Urd rose but they promised.

Bell remained silent still looking at her sister and San as if to weigh them in their trustworthiness. "Urd, um… your going to be an aunt."

Urd was speechless and had a look of surprise on her face to match San's.

"When did you know? I never knew you went to a doctor." San asked giving Bell a congratulations hug.

"I didn't. I took one of those at home tests to make sure but I felt this little one a little while ago, a month I think." Bell said patting her abdomen. "And no screaming you two, you'll wake Kei-chun."

"But we have to tell him!" Urd all but screamed.

"Shhh!" Bell scolded her. "No, we can't, I can't. I might not live long enough to give him his child." Now Bell was soft once again, tears silently rolling down her cheeks.

"What's all the noise about?" Skuld asked as she sleepily walked into the kitchen. Keiichi was still asleep too worn out to care about loud screaming in-laws.

"Belldandy is pregnant." San said and immediately placed her hand over Skuld's mouth to stop her from screaming as well. 

"What was that for?" Skuld asked San.

"To stop you from screaming and waking up Keiichi."

"I wasn't going to scream. I was going to ask if Keiichi knows."

"No." Bell said sadly and turned to look out the window where she saw something that made her gasp. Everyone else quickly turned their heads to see Ashitaka and Sentaro floating in the kitchen in front of the window. 

Sentaro was limp, and Ashitaka stood or rather hovered next to him. Ashitaka was dressed as he was before, all black and enveloped in a cape.

"Personal I would want to know that I could have been a father, but you don't want my opinion, do you?" Ashitaka said.

"No we are not interested in your bloody opinion. Get your business over with before we kill you." San said so savagely she surprised herself along with everyone else.

Ashitaka just looked at her a moment. "Still the same San from all those years back. The same San that acted before thinking something through properly. I thought that after so many years you would have changed. But then you have in some ways, Mononoke."

"Stop calling me that!" San yelled at him.

"Why? How else should I call you when you dress like you would when you were the Mononoke?" Ashitaka said to San in a much quieter and calmer voice. And Ashitaka did have a point. Today San was wearing the clothes that she wore so long ago. Naturally they were reproductions of her original clothes but Ashitaka didn't notice the difference. The same kimono and the rice sack over it. San had found that time did bring some womanly comforts that she wore underneath her old outfit.

"And perhaps you should be a little more hospitable towards me or has Japanese hospitality changed so much? Besides I sincerely thought about returning this young one but now I don't know if I should. After all hostility is returned with hostility." Ashitaka said plainly, staring straight at Skuld. 

Skuld shot a glance at San and then to Bell and Urd with a pleading expression. Bell got the idea and walked up beside San and whispered; "Stop before he does something to Sentaro." as she pointed to Skuld who was having a hard time holding herself together.

"Fine." San whispered back.

"Looks like your goddess friend gave you some good advice. Never piss off the man who holds the cards." Ashitaka said after a moment of silence had passed through the kitchen. "I'll make you a deal little one. I give you back your lover and you tell me what the gods said. Do they relent or do I have to spill their blood?" 

Skuld's face was burning bright red but she managed to say; "They won't relent." 

Ashitaka's expression didn't change and he merely nodded and Sentaro floated down to the floor where he just lay there. "He's just asleep." Ashitaka said noting Skuld's fearful expression and how she seemed hesitant to rush to Sentaro's side fearing Ashitaka might be lying and she might find him dead.

Ashitaka took a step back and Skuld was instantly on the floor next to Sentaro gently shaking him and whispering his name. Skuld saw that he was breathing and turned to face Ashitaka with tears of joy and thanks in her eyes. "Thank you." was all she could say before she tended to a slowly rousing Sentaro.

"What's the catch?" San said stopping Ashitaka in his tracks as he was leaving.

"What?"

"What's the catch? There has to be one. Did you wipe his memory and make him your spy or did he make swear loyalty to you or"

"No catch San. Is it possible that I want to give him and her something the gods never gave us?"

"What?" San said, this time she was the one confused.

"A second chance for love no matter how short. It's more then the gods gave us." Ashitaka said to San. To Skuld he said; "Take care of him. If the demons don't kill you I will. Good day to all of you." And with that Ashitaka vanished just as he had before.

San was to put it lightly shell shocked. Ashitaka had dropped a large bomb of information on her. He had done this out of pity and out of remembrance of them and yet he had stated they would all be dead tomorrow, simply, calmly and with the coldness of a winter storm. Perhaps there was some of the Ashitaka San had love left and yet this new Ashitaka seemed to be very much a disturbing man, if he was a man at all. 

And despite this morning episode the rest of the day was rather cheerful and even pleasant for all. Urd and San mostly talked about this and that, Skuld and Sentaro were very happy to be together and spent the day in Skuld's room and Bell and Keiichi were at it once more. San and Urd had to take Skuld and Sentaro out because the noises were getting them worried the younger couple might get ideas. But getting them out of the temple was rather easy and the four of them spent the afternoon in an amusement park enjoying themselves as best they could. They all knew what tomorrow would bring and they all wanted this afternoon to last forever though the sun did set and night fell only drawing closer the day of reckoning.

Chapter 11: The Last Stand

Dawn broke on the Gates of Heaven. The 40,000 grim defenders were waiting to fight a battle they knew would be their last. The demons were known from previous wars for not taking many prisoners, very few were ever taken and the few that lived to tell the tale often wished they were killed. Across the great expanse of Heaven the defenders watched a truly fearsome mass march into sight. The gods knew the demons were force-marched and that moral was lower because of it but there were still enough demons to simply overrun the defenders twice due to shear numbers alone. Dark bulkheads formed overhead meaning a storm was going to rain down. A poor omen for the defenders lowering moral before the battle had started.

Moral was certainly lower in the unit under Belldandy's command. They were right be hind the Gates meaning they would be the first killed once the Gates were rammed open. Mysteriously or not so was that San found herself in the unit with Urd and Skuld. All of the goddesses in the unit wore golden armor, beautifully engraved with various designs. San wore the armor but found it rather heavy and hindering to her movement. When she was the Mononoke she had never wore any armor at all and though she had kept herself fit she was already tired from just standing in the rain with this armor. But then she had to were it, Bell and Urd had convinced her it would protect her which meant they had probably put several spells on it, but still it seemed to hinder San in every way and even, dare she think of it, hinder her more animalistic instincts. She had kept them as sharp as she could over the years but after so many centuries of living among humans had seen a decline in her abilities.

The rumbling outside came to a stop. Through the magical Gate San could see the massive army had stopped a mere 100 yards or so from the Gates, just out of range of the defenses. A moment of pure silence loaded with the grim fact that blood would flow in the next moment of time. A volley was fired on both sides and the demon army gave a yell and charged opening the fighting. 

But a massive wall of some kind erected itself in between the two armies. The wall cause the demonic forces to stop, dumbfounded with what to do with this wall. The gods breathe a temporary sigh of relief, their deaths postponed for now. However their relief quickly disappeared when a figure manifested itself in front of the wall, on the demonic side of the see through wall.

The man spoke; "My name is Ashitaka, last Prince of the Emishi. Both sides here have contributed to my suffering and both shall pay. I give you now one last chance to surrender to me and you will only suffer lightly. Refuse and I kill you all."

A loud roar of laughter came from the demonic forces. "As if we would bow down to only one insane man?" The gods were more composed in their response for there was no laughter just the grim response; "We shall not yield without a fight."

Ashitaka just smiled. "I expected no less." And with that two rocket launcher manifested on Ashitaka's shoulders and he took no time in fire them off into the massive army in front of him. "I'll deal with you later." He called over his shoulder to the gods who could but watch as he dropped the rocket launchers and chain guns appeared in his hands.

Ashitaka blazed away at the charging mass. The rockets killed several dozen, many dozen more fell to the bullets of the chain guns. Even with all their magic the demonic forces could not stop the speeding bullets and Ashitaka had just begun to fight. Some 1,000 died before the mass managed to close in on Ashitaka.

At first San did not know what to think. Happiness that she always had felt when he was near came first until she remembered he had promised to kill her. Fear that he would die when the massive army closed in and killed. Never the less he was going to take people with him. San watched with so many others as Ashitaka stood along, isolated from the world by the world. Isolated by choice to erect this wall to keep the two forces apart and perhaps to ensure he was not stabbed in the back literally. 

The masses closed in on him but Ashitaka though nothing of it. He had been expecting this and had but begun to fight. He was buried under a sea of blades, all piercing his body until he fell, a bloody pulp on the ground. Then Ashitaka stood, no leaped up at least 30 feet and stayed there, hovering in the air. His eyes had gone dark blue and the wind swirled around him, once again reducing his bloody shirt to shreds. The long fang-like shapes burned their way into Ashitaka's cheek. For a moment everyone was still, so struck by awe of this transformation and the power that emitted from it.

Ashitaka then dove into the crowd below, Emishi short swords having manifested in his hands. Ashitaka became a whirlwind of death but despite his abilities the demons did land the occasional hit on him and after a day of bloodshed Ashitaka was beginning to feel the effects. By the end of the first day only a mere 10,000 had fallen, a fraction of the fighting force.

'Have to keep fighting, the Gates won't hold against such an onslaught.' And fight on h did taking many dozen more. However someone landed a strike on the base of his neck and he fell, completely swallowed by the horde.

'I have failed,' were the last thoughts Ashitaka could muster.

The horde just walked over his body, marching towards the Gates still some 85,000 strong. They did not count on the wall still being there. Bewildered once more the demonic army decided to try to punch a whole in the invisible barrier. Too engrossed with their efforts the demons did not notice the body of the man that had killed so many.

After several minutes laughter rang out across the expanse. "Fool! Never believe a foe dead until you hold his head in your hand!" Ashitaka said as he rose up to his feet. He picked up his weapons and his wounds healed over. Ashitaka felt full of new energy and at the same time a different energy. 'It's happening again. Perfect.'

Ashitaka's eyes change color to a bright golden color; a third fang carved itself across his cheek. The wind started up around him once again and swallowed him in its fury. When it calmed Ashitaka stood there, weapons in hands ready to strike down more of his foes. 'If only this had happened 600 years ago. Too late now, I just have to make the best of it.' Ashitaka told himself.

He became another whirlwind of death but this time he seemed faster and stronger in every way. No demon landed so much as a scratch on him, and hundreds and thousands fell to his furious blades. But as before the demonic army simply smothered him by shear numbers, even at the rate he was slaying he could not kill them all. Once he was under a mass of bodies and blades Ashitaka used a spell he had learned to use in the netherworld. Why he had not thought to use it earlier was beyond even him.

Though the Gates and wall San could she a massive ball emerge from the spot Ashitaka had once again become engulfed by demons. The light was blinding, the sound a deafening mixture of the rumbling explosion and the cries and screams of the dying demons. The explosion broke down the wall but was stopped by the Gates though the Gates were greatly weakened. Once the light cleared there was silence once more before the sounds of slayer once again reached San's ears. Ashitaka was killing at a blinding pace that any of the gods of war would be found wanting in trying to match the speed, style, skill, and grace at which Ashitaka killed.

He was a man possessed, fighting through his new injuries that bled openly. But this impossible man killed and killed that day and well into the night. Though many of the gods slept, San included, Ashitaka continued to fight a dwindling army of demons. By the next day's dawn the expanse in front of the Gates was colored with the blood of the demonic aggressors.

Dawn broke and San awoke hearing a disturbing noise. Silence. San looked upon the blood stained field and saw only bodies, bodies of demons everywhere but she could not see Ashitaka.

Once an official count came out the gods had to admire the heroism of Ashitaka even if he was an enemy. He had killed over 100,000 demons in only a day. A feat never accomplished before surely never would be, fore the demons no longer had the power nor numbers they once had. And yet for all of his work Ashitaka was not to be found standing. His body was found in the field, among those he had killed. In his hand was a note saying simply; "I had to give love a second chance." A simple message to Skuld and Sentaro, Belldandy and Keiichi, and in it's own way to San about her and Ashitaka.

All San could do was hold the note to her chest as the wind blow by…

Epilogue

Two months had past since San had last seen Ashitaka. Now San believed he was dead, finally finding his peace by dying in battle. And he had died to defend Skuld and Bell so that they might "Have a second chance at love" as he had put it. 'If only you told us we would have helped you, Ashitaka. Then maybe we could have had our second chance.'

Skuld and Sentaro were now virtually inseparable when Skuld came back from the Gates. Skuld was slightly traumatized from all the gore she saw but Sentaro helped her through it. Urd now spent a good amount of her time keeping Skuld and Sentaro from going too far as Skuld had once done with Keiichi and Belldandy.

When Bell got back she gave Keiichi the news and he nearly had a heart attack with the news that he was going to be a father. 

So most were happy in the temple but San often visited the empty grave of Ashitaka that she had made for him. She smiled; "You always had to be the hero, didn't you? But now perhaps you can be at peace now, I know you brought peace to us here." San then turned and ran back to the temple, tears where once again falling down her cheeks as they always did and yet she kept returning to visit Ashitaka's empty grave. For now she finally felt what Ashitaka had felt; the loneliness, the pain of being the last of his kind, and rage towards the gods for San had realized Ashitaka had given more to Skuld and Bell then the gods had ever given them.

"San there's someone at the door can you get it? Everyone else is busy." Belldandy called from the kitchen.

"Sure." San's voice was somewhat crackly as she cleared her throat and wiped her eyes to make herself look more presentable.

San walked to the door and opened it. There stood a man with a large brimmed hat on covering his face, a jacket, jeans, shirt and boots completed the costume. "Can I help you?" San asked.

"Ya, I came to see how everyone was…"


End file.
